Germany's Martin Wins World TT

Cancellara 3rd as Tony Martin dominates

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With a dominant performance on Wednesday at the UCI world championships in Denmark, Tony Martin gave Germany its second world time-trial title in 24 hours, defeating Great Britain's Bradley Wiggins by an astounding 1 minute 16 seconds. Fabian Cancellara, winner of four of the previous five world time trials and widely regarded as the best time trialist in the world, finished third after misjudging his speed and nearly crashing on two key turns. Yesterday, Germany's Judith Arndt took the women's time trial over favorite Emma Pooley of Great Britian. Like Martin, Arndt was a perennial top finisher in the event but had never won the race outright. Martin's time-trial victory at the Vuelta a Espana in late August led even Cancellara to call him the favorite for Wednesday's race. Martin, 26, rides for the now-defunct team HTC-Highroad. He recently signed with team Omega Pharma-Quickstep for the 2012 season.

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Chevron station Photo: philosophygeek/Flickr

Chevron Ordered to Pay $18 Billion

Company responsible for Amazon pollution

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On Monday, a New York appeals court reversed a ruling that had kept Chevron from paying a massive settlement to Ecuadorians affected by pollution from oil extraction projects in the Amazon. In February, a court in Ecuador awarded a group of 30,000 Ecuadorans $18.2 billion as restitution for toxic waste dumped by Texaco in the 1970s and 1980s. Chevron purchased Texaco in 2001. The company maintains that evidence of pollution was fabricated, and filed a lawsuit against the plaintiffs in a New York Court. That case led a New York judge to halt the $18-billion order in March. But on Friday, the New York appeals court questioned whether the American judge who had ordered the injunction has authority in the case, which fall under Ecuadorian jurisdiction. The injunction was officially removed on Monday.

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The Iran-Iraq border Photo: Outside Magazine

American Hikers Released in Iran

Bauer, Fattal headed to Oman

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The two American hikers who were jailed in 2009 for illegally crossing into Iran have been released, ending a two-year saga that culminated last week with an announcement, and then a retraction, that they would go free. Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer, both 29, left Tehran's Evin Prison Wednesday in diplomatic cars after posting $500,000 bail. They will next travel to Muscat, the capital of Oman, to receive medical checkups before returning to the United States. Bauer and Fattal were arrested in 2009 with fellow hiker Sarah Shourd when they strayed over Iran's unmarked border while hiking to a waterfall in Iraqi Kurdistan. Shourd was freed last year on medical grounds. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced last week that the hikers would soon go free, but was contradicted the next day when Iran's judiciary questioned Ahmadinejad's authority to grant the release.

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Bear eating from dumpster Photo: anoldent/Flickr

Man Pleads Guilty to Feeding Bears

Bears got 50 lbs. of dog food each day

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A Juneau man will pay $4,000 and complete 80 hours of community service with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game after pleading guilty to feeding black bears for years at his home north of the city. Authorites say Arnold W. Hanger, who was cited in July, had been feeding 10 to 15 bears 50 pounds of dog food each day, alarming neighbors, many of whom have small children. Hanger's story has invited comparisons that of Timothy Treadwell, the subject of Werner Herzog's documentary Grizzly Man, and whose death Outside covered in 2004 after he was mauled by a grizzly bear in Alaska. Hanger's conviction is the latest in a recent string of bear feeding incidents. Wildlife officials worry that bear feeing habituates to animals to humans. This summer in British Columbia, a numbers of bears were euthanized after authorities discovered that the owner of an illegal marijuana farm had fed the bears and used them to guard the property.

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Pat Farmer Photo: Pole to Pole Run

Pole-to-Pole Runner Hits Halfway

Australian runs from North Pole to Panama

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Australian ultrarunner Pat Farmer has reached the halfway mark of his Pole to Pole Run, arriving in Panama 7,767 miles and 6 months after setting out from the North Pole in April. Farmer, a former member of Australia's Parliament and an endurance-running world record holder, is attempting to run from the North Pole to the South Pole via the Americas. He has traveled through the Canadian arctic, Quebec, the eastern seaboard of the United States, Mexico, and Central America. To keep pace, Farmer has averaged more than 50 miles per day and has taken no days off. The next stage of Farmer's run traverses the Darien Gap, a violent section of Panamanian jungle where he'll be escorted by armed guards in addition to his usual support crew. Farmer will then run along the west coast of South America before continuing to the South Pole. Farmer has run the circumference of Australia and twice crossed the United States. He is hoping to raise $100 million for the American, Canadian, and Australian Red Cross organizations.